No option but to release water: CM

Bengaluru, Sep 7: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the state government had no option but to abide by the direction of the Supreme Court to release Cauvery River water to Tamil Nadu. However, he did not specify from when the water will be released.

“Despite severe hardship due to paucity of rains, Karnataka will abide by the court’s order. At the same time, the state government will file a petition before the court seeking modification of its order of September 5,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after an all-party meeting in Bengaluru.

The all-party meeting had been convened to decide the government’s next course of action in the wake of the Supreme Court directing Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of River Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days. Siddaramaiah said the state will also approach the supervisory committee constituted to give effect to the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal with ground realities in the river basin.

“In our constitutional set-up, it is difficult to defy an order of the Supreme Court. We will release water. But we will also ensure adequate drinking water to habitations in the Cauvery basin. A sincere attempt will be made to provide water to standing crops of our farmers,”?Siddaramaiah said.

He said the state legal team on?Cauvery issue headed by senior counsel Fali?S?Nariman had submitted before the Supreme Court that despite facing severe distress, the state would release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for five days. “However, the Supreme Court, in its wisdom, directed us to release 15,000 cusecs of water for 10 days. We will try to convince the court once again that the present storage in the reservoirs in the Cauvery basin is not even sufficient to meet our drinking water needs,” Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah said Nariman had recently told him that the legal team was preparing itself for the final hearing of special leave petition filed by the state challenging the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. The Supreme Court has posted the hearing for October 18.

The government’s decision to release water was opposed by the BJP and the JD(S).